Dozier anxious to get back to action for Aces

Rob Dozier Jr. of Alaska (light) vs Greg Slaughter of Ginebra (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

Rob Dozier is taking a wait-and-see approach with his status with Alaska.

Recovering from a plantar fasciitis injury, the former Best Import awardee is still finding his groove after starting to participate in the Aces’ daily practices.

“I’m just trying to get the feel and see how guys are responding to our practices,” he said. “I have no timetable when I’ll be back, but I’m just getting a feel on how my foot responds.”

Dozier admits that it has been a frustrating wait for him to get back to the court.

“It’s been three months of sitting and watching. I’m very anxious to get back, hopefully sooner rather than later,” he said.

But he’s doing his part, aiding his recovery with aqua training for a month now, which he said is keeping him “at the best possible condition that I could possibly can.”

Dozier, though, knows it will still take time for him to return to his old form.

“I don’t feel out of shape, but it’s going to take some couple of days before I get to game shape. It’s a whole different type of shape, so I have to keep on working to see how fast I can get there as possible,” he said.

“I’m just going to keep going at it, see if I can keep on progressing every day in practice.”

Replacement import Shane Edwards, who took over for Dozier, has been effective for the Aces so far but Dozier doesn’t harbor ill feelings towards him.

“We all got the same job and there’s no problem. He’s been playing well. I got hurt, another guy stepped up. That’s basketball, it’s no different of anything. I have great amount of respect for him and it’s the same with him. There’s no problem.”

From watching from the sidelines, though, Dozier has observed Alaska’s inconsistent showing, as evidenced by the shock loss against Mahindra on Monday.

“We got to play both halves. We can’t play one half and expect to win. Each team in this league is capable of beating each other so we got to learn how to play for 48 minutes,” Dozier said.